Triumphrat

triffin · 05-03-2008

It happened some time ago and i wasnt gonna tell anyone about it, but i figured it might help some of you....

I was out riding with my street, having some fun. The bike rides so easily it gives me the feeling i can do almost anything with it. I came up to a parkinglot and there where some cones left there wich are used for motorcycle training (slalom). I figured, if i can do it with a VTR (did an advanced riding class some time ago) i sure can do it with a Street triple. The cones where placed close together, entry speed would be about 10km per hour max. So i lined up passed the first cone and did what one allways does; i hanged to the left to let the bike fall in...then it happend. I turned the handlebar to the left (to pick up the balance),..klonk! It couldnt turn far enough,...with my weight still on the left side, the bike and i simply fell over.

That was after 70.000kms of riding without ever even dropping a bike.
It beats going down in a corner at high speed, but still..

RichinTampa · 05-03-2008

Yep, the turning radius is one of the few complaints I have about the Striple. It's tougher backing out of my garage and around my daughter's car with this bike than it is with my much heavier BMW's.

dgilmore · 05-04-2008

Yep, it's a short trip to lock!! My wife took her Streety to the advanced rider course today, and in the really tight switchback, she went left ok, and then when she corrected to make the quick right, she reached lock much too quickly, and you guessed it, she removed her turn signal with the asphalt. Luckily, no real damage, except to her ego - she's usually a really good rider, and it embarrassed the crap out of her. This bike requires caution and a lot of counterweighting for really sharp switchback turns.

Dave

dgilmore · 05-05-2008

OK gang, here's the follow-up on the wife's encounter with the steering lock. After the course, she asked the instructors if she could try the tight S curve again (and I mean tight), and they said "sure". She tried it several times, and still couldn't get it right, when one of the instructors said "watch me, I'll show you how". He tried it 3 times on her bike, and couldn't do it. Then, two of the other instructors tried it several times, and they couldn't do it. They all admitted that the steering lock is so tight, that it's virtually impossible to do a couple of the exercises in the Advanced Riders Course.

So, the moral of the story is - be careful, the bike won't make really sharp turns in small spaces.

Dave

Diego · 05-05-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgilmore

So, the moral of the story is - be careful, the bike won't make really sharp turns in small spaces.

I partially agree with you. It's not a good bike for slalom courses or other low speed situations where you use the handlebar for steering; you can't turn it far enough for quick maneuvering at low speeds. (Although, if you have time and aren't doing switchbacks, you can still do very tight circles and such...tighter than I ever could with my Speed Triple.)

The Street's nimbleness is on the open road! Only problem I have with cornering is not wanting to slow down in order to turn into my driveway.

Shakey · 05-06-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diego

The Street's nimbleness is on the open road! Only problem I have with cornering is not wanting to slow down in order to turn into my driveway.

+1 on that.

I can't recall the last time I was hustling down the road and came across a line of those pesky little cones I had to navigate. The Street is eminently competent on the road where it was designed to operate. A U-turn king it is not, but hang on in the corners. It can handle them like it's on rails.

Diarmuid66 · 05-06-2008

Thank goodness its not just me then!!

After giving the bike a good post mayday run clean I took it for a little run to dry the brakes ...I totally failed to U turn it in my road

I gave it a few goes ...using the back brake and clutch biting point as in my basic training ...on no I cant have got worse since passing my test !

So basically dont take any sort of license test on a striple you may fail the slow speed bits ..and it may be hard to resist temptation and also fail the rest of the test by riding off into the distance I can just see my Examiner on his Honda Glide disappearing in my mirrors

triffin · 05-06-2008

Ok, so instructors cant do it either!

Thats a big relief for my ego.

Thanks for that post!